Deady Is Finally A Qualified Success

August 16, 1988|By Phil Hersh.

Mark Deady punched his ticket for Seoul at Hengelo, the Netherlands, Sunday.

Deady, a Stevenson High School product, finished third in the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic track trials to earn a spot on the team. But he still had to meet the qualifying time (3 minutes 38.50 seconds) necessary for the second and third entrants in each race.

After failing twice, the second time by .08 seconds, Deady made it easily Sunday, running 3:35.83 while finishing fifth behind Joaquim Cruz of Brazil

(3:34.63). The time was nearly three seconds faster than Deady`s previous personal best.

Deady, a junior at Indiana University, finished a step behind Indiana alum Terry Brahm, who has made the Olympic team in the 5,000 meters. Brahm finished fourth in 3:35.81.

Indiana coach Sam Bell said Brahm was not in the race just to help Deady qualify.

``There were 21 guys on the track, and most of the race Terry didn`t even know where Mark was,`` Bell said.

Deady`s success ended the Olympic hopes of another Indiana grad, Jim Spivey of Glen Ellyn. Spivey, a 1984 Olympian and bronze medalist at the 1987 World Championships, finished fourth in the Olympic trials and would have gone to Seoul had Deady not made the qualifying time.

Spivey, in Zurich to run the 1,500 in the Grand Prix meet there Wednesday, could not be reached for comment.

``I feel sorry for Jim and sorry for the United States that Jim is not on the Olympic team,`` Bell said. ``He was obviously a kid with a chance to get a medal. But that`s our system: we line up and fire the gun, and the kids select themselves. It`s the only fair way.``